Gravity
by Sugoitsu
Summary: When a young Zoroark's family is captured by poachers, her comfortable wild life comes crashing down on her. Now forced into hiding in Castelia City, she must keep herself steady under the guise of a human girl while she works to discover the whereabouts of her loved ones.


When the Absol had appeared to her weeks prior, Anya paid his warnings no heed. Their disaster-sensing gimmick, after all, was said to only apply only when they appeared before humans – otherwise, disaster would truly follow them wherever they went. Besides, when he was being so vague about his warnings, how could he be taken seriously?  
"You're not making any sense, Salom," Anya scoffed, reclining against a sturdy tree trunk. "You come in here warning me of some great threat... And you can't even tell me what it is, or when to expect it?"  
"Please understand," the old Absol croaked stoically, "that my powers are very limited, especially when it comes to matters involving humans. Although we Absol as a species have evolved our foresight to deal with artificial disasters, it's far from a refined art. Dealing with humans is never a sure thing beyond 'something terrible is bound to occur,' as opposed to something like a storm or an earthquake. We're able to pinpoint exactly where a natural disaster like that will happen." He hung his head solemnly, angry that he could not give his friend a more accurate warning. "You must believe me, Anya – you and your family are in grave danger. I only wish for you to come out of this unharmed."  
"Well, I appreciate the sentiment for sure," she replied. "But the fact is that you haven't given me anything useful. I can't prepare for something that I don't know about, and you can't even give me a timeframe for me to be on guard. You can't possibly expect me to be uselessly paranoid up until this mysterious disaster happens and I can't do anything about it anyway, do you?" Salom sighed defeatedly.  
"I suppose you're right. I'm sorry to have bothered you about it, but... Please, just be safe. As usual, I'll make myself scarce. However, the moment I catch wind of whatever this is happening, I'll come find you."  
"Thanks again, Salom. I've got a lot to think about, but I'll see you around." The Absol hopped away nimbly through the forest, and with a dismissive wave Anya was once again left to her own devices. This disaster he spoke of... Some horrible event involving humans was to befall she and her family. This was new information to her, and without any knowledge as to prevent it she felt much better off blissfully ignorant. The walk back to her family's encampment was a troublesome one as she debated whether to warn them or not. In the end, she decided that it was best not to worry them with the vague premonition.

* * *

Now, though, Anya wondered if she could have perhaps changed this outcome had she chosen differently then. The foreboding disaster of which Salom spoke had at last reared its ugly head as she returned from a day out hunting – she returned to her family's nest to find it ransacked and her entire family incapacitated. Her mother sat, bound in place; her father lay tangled under a heavy net, badly injured; and her younger sister Hazel – still a Zorua, too young to even have evolved – struggled violently against the steady grip of a large human who seemed to be the cause of this mess. Frozen in shock and confusion, Anya could only stare down her family's captor, unsure of what to do. The Scrafty at the man's side, however, only saw the opportunity to win more of its Trainer's favor and immediately came flying at her with its leg poised to kick, snapping her out of her daze. She was not well-trained to fight, but she could at least make an attempt at defending herself. She ducked under the Hoodlum Pokémon's kick, sending it crashing painfully to the ground. It remained there for a moment, trying to recover from the daze brought on from the crash.  
"Anya!" Her mother called out to her in the moment she had to spare. "You don't stand a chance, he has more Pokemon with him – Please, just run! Just be safe!"  
However, Anya quickly realized that was easier said than done. Her legs locked beneath her, unwilling to follow her mother's advice and leave her family behind. At that moment, though, Salom's warnings echoed in her head alongside her mother's pleas. She had been warned about this, however vaguely, and was now presented with the opportunity to escape. It would be foolish to throw away her only chance at salvation just for lack of a fast decision. She shook tears out of her eyes as she turned on her heel and ran away from her assailants as fast as her legs would carry her. The Scrafty hopped to its feet and made to give chase, but was far too slow to keep pace and eventually gave up. When the sound of dead leaves crumbling under the hurried footsteps of her pursuer finally stopped, Anya collapsed against a tree, holding her head in her hands.  
The young Zoroark sobbed and sniffled quietly, trying her best but ultimately failing to hold back her tears. While normally she considered herself relatively level-headed, her current situation had been too much strain on her psyche, and she was now overcome with emotion. She felt rage at herself for abandoning her family, and at that poacher who had taken them; grief and confusion, for she had no clue what would become of them; as she worked to get a grip on her emotions, she pushed the panic and woe to the back of her mind, only to have them replaced by a swell of loneliness and fear. Now, regardless of what became of them in however much time, she was alone for the time being, with nowhere to go – her nest destroyed and her family gone, she had nothing to go back to.  
The sound of leaves rustling softly nearby jerked her out of her state of distress and into one of action. However poorly fit she was for fighting in her current state, she assumed a fighting stance despite herself. However, she relaxed as Salom entered her field of view. As he noticed her state of distress, he was able to discern what had happened quickly, and decided to forgo formalities to assess his friend's condition.  
"Are you alright? What exactly happened?" He sat on his haunches and listened intently as Anya recounted the day's events thus far. She didn't have a full grasp on the situation, but she told her tale as well as she could manage with what little information she had in regards to her attacker's identity. Salom waited a moment, ensuring she had finished her story, and began pressing for further details. "You've no clue who it was, then?"  
"I barely know anything about humans," she muttered. "They pretty much never come around here. He had Pokemon with him in those balls they carry, like I said – all I saw was a Scrafty, but my mom said he had more."  
"If that's the case you did well to steer clear. You're not trained to fight; he could easily have overwhelmed you with a full party of trained Pokémon."  
"I still feel guilty for just leaving them behind," she sulked. "There wasn't anything I could do, and... I just don't know where to go now, you know?" Salom did not answer immediately, giving it a moment's thought before humming in acknowledgment.  
"I know how you must feel. To tell you the truth, I felt the same way when my Trainer released me." Anya did a double-take.  
"Wait, you've gotten captured? Why'd they give you up?" She frowned when he only shook his head in response.  
"That's a story for another day. We're worried about you at the moment. At any rate, please try not to be upset. You did nothing wrong; if anything, it was my lack of detailed prediction that led to this. I'll help however I can, but... I can't assure you that I'll be of much value. At any rate, your assailant was likely a poacher. Zoroark are relatively rare Pokemon, and certain humans are willing to pay top dollar to get their hands on one. Of course, fresh out of the wild one would never sell. They'll need to be trained, bred, or perhaps he'll just keep them as they are until he manages to sucker someone into buying them with no effort on his part."  
"Sold?! L-Like slaves?" Panic flashed in Anya's eyes as her mind raced with visions of what would become of her family. Was slavery their fate, then? She conceded that it was better than death, but a horrible fate in her eyes nonetheless. "And they'll be forced to battle, then, like that Scrafty was? Either way, they're gonna be in danger no matter what, right?"  
"Calm down, Anya. It's no good to worry about them at this point. Your immediate concerns are getting yourself to a safe place. For that... I think I would recommend heading towards the city." He gestured to the skyline, where the massive skyscrapers of Castelia City loomed.  
"The city?" she parroted. "But my parents always said-"  
"On any other occasion," Salom interrupted, "I would agree with your parents. For any wild Pokémon the city isn't a safe place to be. However, I've heard whisperings of other poachers swarming the woods today. I don't think it's safe out here anymore if they're all hunting for something simultaneously. You being a Zoroark, you could use your illusory abilities to your advantage to better hide yourself in the city."  
"But there's no food in the city," she complained. "And no other wild Pokemon, and it's crawling with humans, the despicable things!"  
"Humans are not despicable," he said pointedly. "Not all of them, at least. My Trainer was a very kind person; only a minority act as that poacher does. That said, though... As a Pokemon as rare as a Zoroark, you would indeed be in danger of capture without a disguise. Thus the need for your illusions. You would need to be on guard at all times until you found yourself a safe place to rest." She looked towards the city again.  
"I have always wondered what it was like there, but... I feel like it's not worth it. It's so dangerous and tough to live in for a girl like me, who can barely defend herself even with an illusion..."  
"It's your only shot," he restated flatly. "If the poacher's from anywhere around here, he'll likely have a hangout in Castelia City. You may not find him quickly, but if you're to locate him and get info on your family's whereabouts, it may be your only chance." They sat in silence for several moments as Anya digested the information and thought over her choices.  
"So let me get this straight. If I want to figure out what the poacher did with them..." She ticked off the steps to her plan as she spoke. "I have to get into the city, keep myself under wraps, find where this guy hangs out AND manage to keep myself fed and safe that whole time?"  
"That's right," he said. "It won't be easy, but it's either that or stay out here and get captured or maimed yourself. It's up to you." Another thoughtful silence hung over them.  
"...And what would happen to you?" Anya asked suddenly, shifting her train of thought momentarily.  
"Pardon?" He cocked his head, taken off-guard by the sudden change in topic as if his own safety was only an afterthought.  
"You keep saying how dangerous it is out here... But where are you gonna go? You haven't got the leisure of disguise to keep you safe. I'm worried about you."  
"I'm the least of your worries, Anya. I've learned how to handle myself quite well in the face of Pokémon Trainers. I will stay away from the city for now, but as always I'll try my best to seek you out from time to time even while you live in the city."  
"...Alright. Alright, I'll go. I need to do this." Anya stood, a look of determination coming across her face. "I'll need a disguise, though. I don't really know what humans dress like, but... How's this look?" Casting an aura of illusion around herself, in her place now stood a teen-aged human girl with striking red hair, dressed in a mundane outfit of a plain t-shirt and jeans. Salom smiled at this, seeing his friend take a small pleasure in the idea of getting herself to look nice as a human.  
"You look great, Anya. Very convincingly human. Now all you need is to act the part." Anya smiled back at him.  
"Thank you so much, Salom. ...I guess I should get going now."  
"Best of luck. Stay safe." He turned to leave, but paused mid-step to tack on a last bit of advice. "Oh, and try to keep to the outskirts of town when you're looking for shelter. It's much more sparsely-inhabited than the inner city."  
"Got it. Th-Thanks again. ...See you around, I hope." A nervous wobble in her step, she set off towards the great city in the distance. Now, she was ready as she'd ever be to set on the grand task of stopping the poachers who had taken everything from her.


End file.
